Cabinet consented to the sale of the land to Lumumba in March 2004, and it remains unclear whether there was any competitive bidding.
The plot of land is described as ‘Tract lettered C’ being a portion of land at the rear of the Botanical Gardens east of Mandela Avenue and to the north side of the Chinese Embassy, containing an area of 0.786 of an acre.
Lumumba sold the land to Loaknauth Maraj of Florida, USA, in March 2008, and the transport for the sale was advertised in the Official Gazette on March 19, 2009.
The Affidavit of Vendor by Lumumba to obtain the transport from the government, states that the “full and true consideration paid by me for the said property whether to the aforesaid Government of Guyana or to any person in connection with the sale is the sum of $1,500,000.00.” According to Transport 1870 of 2008, passed on September 24, 2008, Lumumba obtained the transport “pursuant to Cabinet Decision dated March 30, 2004.”
In the Official Gazette of March 14, 2009, the same property was advertised for sale by Lumumba to Loaknauth Maraj, who was based overseas. The Affidavit of Vendor by Lumumba states that “the full and true consideration paid or to be paid to me for the sale of the said property is the sum of $38,000,000.00.” The Affidavit of Purchaser by Deonarine Maraj, the duly constituted attorney of Loaknauth Maraj, indicated that his client paid $38M for the land. His affidavit gave the date of sale as March 30, 2008 and it was sworn to on September 23, 2008.
A source close to the deal said no improvements had been made on the land and also no buildings had been constructed on it between the period September 2004 to March 2008, but some four years later the value had gone up to $38M. The source said that based on the sale the value of the land grew by 1,500 per cent in four years, an average of 375 per cent per year.
Documents seen by this newspaper indicate that when Lumumba purchased the property in March 2004 the transport was not passed to him that year, although transport papers had been filed on September 30, 2004; transport was not passed to him until four years later, in September 2008. In 2004 the sum of $67,500 was paid as conveyancing charges to the Deeds Registry. The value of the property was increased to $38M on September 30, 2008, however, and six months after the sale to Maraj for $38M, the value of the property was then increased to the identical sum of $38M. It was not until after the increase in valuation that the transport was passed to Lumumba; the value of the property on the transport is therefore shown as $38M and not as $1.5M.
A document called ‘Instructions to Advertise’ was required to be filed in the Deeds Registry with the transport papers. The document is recorded as being filed on September 30, 2004. This shows that on July 22, 2008, less than four years later, the additional sum of $882,500 as conveyancing charges was paid to the Registrar of Deeds. This additional sum would have been paid to account for the increase in the valuation of the property to $38M since conveyancing charges are based on the price paid for the property.
According to the source, if the Registrar feels that the price is an undervaluation then a valuation can be ordered and, if this is higher than the purchase price then the conveyancing charges would be calculated on the valuation and not on the price.
The plot of land had attracted the attention of the city council earlier this year when it started to enquire about ongoing works at the site and had subsequently called for a halt of the operations. The land was reportedly being cleared for development at the time. The land falls under the purview of the council and in the documents seen, it was reported as having benefited from the services of the council.
